


A Morning After

by FleetSparrow



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Becoming The Thing That You Most Hate/Fear, Character Is Haunted By Bad Things They Had To Do For A Good Cause, Demons, Enduring Pain to Protect Another, Gen, Original Character Death(s), Psychological Trauma, Recovery From Injury/Trauma So People Will Stop Worrying About You, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 21:33:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15916683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FleetSparrow/pseuds/FleetSparrow
Summary: After a demon pushes Dick beyond limits he never thought he'd cross, it's up to Damian to bring him home.





	A Morning After

**Author's Note:**

  * For [geckoholic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/geckoholic/gifts).



It had been three weeks since Damian had found the sacred sword pulled out of a Lazarus Pit. Two weeks since the demon Belphegor had touched Dick Grayson and claimed his soul too pure to contaminate. One week since a man named Robert Doyle had been possessed instead, and found himself dead at the hands of Dick Grayson and a sacred sword, his soul freed of possession, but his life forfeit.

It had been a week since Bruce had spoken to Dick. It would be even longer before he felt he could.

Dick had gone back to Blüdhaven immediately after the attack. In that time, no one had heard a word from him. Damian went to Blüdhaven to find him.

Dick answered the door after almost five minutes of Damian knocking. He looked disheveled, unshaven, and unwashed, with bloodshot eyes. If Damian hadn’t thrown his whole body into the door the moment it opened, Dick looked like he would’ve closed it on him.

“Grayson. I’m here to look after you,” Damian announced, looking around the apartment. “It’s evident you can’t take care of yourself, so I’ve come to do it for you.”

Dick just stood there silently, barely watching Damian move around.

“Have you done anything to look after yourself?” Damian asked, looking as exasperated as he sounded.

Dick simply shrugged and moved to the couch, pulling a blanket up over himself and curling up beneath it.

Damian sighed and sat beside him. “It isn’t the end of the world, Grayson. I’ve killed people before.”

“I did it for you, Damian,” Dick said hoarsely. “I didn’t want you to have to do it.”

Damian looked at Dick, his haughtiness subsiding. “I know. That was very foolish, Grayson. You…you don’t have it in you.”

“But I did,” he said. “I did it and I’d have to do it again if that happened. I…I wanted to spare you that pain.”

Damian curled up beside him. “Grayson. Father won’t speak to me either.”

Dick looked up at him. “He shouldn’t do that. It was my fault. I’m the one who….”

“Father hasn’t spoken to anyone since then, just Pennyworth.”

Dick blinked and finally took in Damian’s face. He looked hurt. Dick extended an arm and pulled Damian to him, wrapping the blanket around them both.

“I’m OK, Damian. Really. You don’t need to worry about me.”

Damian buried his face in Dick’s chest. “You smell.”

Dick chuckled. “Sorry about that. Want me to go shower?”

Damian shook his head. “Not now. Are you really all right?”

“Of course I am,” Dick lied. “I just haven’t been feeling up to things lately. You know how it is. But I’m better, really. Now that you’re here, I’ll be fine.”

Damian’s eyes narrowed in an impressive imitation of his father. “You’re not just saying that because you think I’ll leave? Because I’m not leaving.”

Dick sighed. “You’ve got to go back some time, Damian. Batman needs his Robin.”

“And who do you need?”

A shadow flitted over Dick’s face. “I work alone now.”

Damian settled heavily on Dick’s chest. “You were the best partner, Grayson. The best.”

Dick rubbed Damian’s back. “You were the best Robin I ever had.”

“Grayson, I was your only Robin.”

“Well, see? It worked out.”

Damian shook his head. “You must be feeling better. You’re being silly again.”

Dick smiled and it almost reached his eyes. “You’re good company.”

“Yes.” Damian stood. “Go shower, and I’ll make us food.”

“There’s some soup in the cupboard if you can reach it.”

Damian glared at him. “One day, I will be taller than you, Grayson, and you won’t get to tease me anymore.”

Dick chuckled and rose stiffly. “All right. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“You had better,” Damian said, his eyes betraying concern. “Don’t do anything rash.”

Dick looked at him for a long minute, then collapsed to his knees, hugging Damian tight. Damian froze, then slowly hugged Dick back.

“Oh, Grayson.”

Dick sobbed into Damian’s shoulder, letting out all the emotions he hadn’t let himself feel for the past week. Finally, exhausted and cried out, he leaned heavily onto Damian. This time, Damian rubbed his back and made soothing noises, the way he did for Titus or Alfred during storms (Titus especially hated storms). Dick finally pulled back, sitting back on his haunches.

“I’m sorry, Damian,” he said. “I’m so sorry.”

“You stop it, you hear me?” Damian said. “You weren’t trained for this. You’re good, Grayson. You’re the best.”

Dick closed his eyes.

“I mean it,” Damian said. “It wasn’t your fault. It was the demon’s. Stop blaming yourself.”

Dick looked up at him and sighed, his eyes sad. “I don’t want you to worry about me, Damian,” he said, touching Damian’s cheek. “I’ll be OK.”

Damian frowned. “You need to come back home.”

“I can’t.”

“You must! I’ll…I’ll march you back at swordpoint!”

Dick actually managed a laugh at the serious expression on Damian’s face. “I’ll think about it, OK? Right now, you fix us some soup, I’ll take a shower.” He tousled Damian’s hair. “And I won’t do anything you wouldn’t do, OK?”

“Satisfactory. For now.”

Dick kissed his forehead and stood up, heading for the shower. Damian turned to the kitchen and looked at the cabinets. Dragging over a chair, he began looking for the food.


End file.
